The Helen Clark Foundation wants widespread change to address New Zealand's high obesity rate.
Its report recommends government policy interventions to improve the proportion of healthy food available.
It also suggests restricting the marketing of unhealthy food to children and adopting new technologies for obesity treatment.
Executive Director Murray Bruges joined Kerre Woodham.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Kerrywood of Mornings podcast from News
Talk sed B.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
We're talking to Helen Clark Foundation's report that wants to
address New Zealand's high obesity rate. The report recommends government
policy interventions to improve the proportion of healthy food available.
It also suggests restricting the marketing of unhealthy food to
children adopting new technologies for obesity treatment. Executive director and
(00:37):
co author of the report, Murray Bruce joins me, Now,
very good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
To you, Very good morning to you, Kerry.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
It really is like, as soon as we start talking
about it and I say, well, you know there are
people who struggle because of shift work in long hours
and things like that, immediately I get people who are organized,
who are capable, who are disciplined, who say, oh, for
heaven's sake, you know, it's just a matter of routine
and easy enough to know how to eat well because
(01:05):
you just have to look on TikTok it comes. It
always seems to come back to individual responsibility and a
kind of superior morality.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, so look, our report acknowledge is a role for
individual responsibility. But the truth of the matter is we
have the third highest rates of obesity in the OECD.
It's not easy for everybody to do this. If it was,
you know, New Zealand wouldn't have the particular problem we
have with you know, a third of New Zealanders living
(01:37):
with obesity. We have a very serious problem here and
it's costing all of us and we need to adopt
the kinds of policies that we've seen countries that work
like US.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Adopt, like Britain with its soft drink takes.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, exactly right, sugar drinks industry leving. What's really interesting
about that approach is that it's not based on revenue gathering.
That's not the point of the of the levy. The
point is to have centivize manufacturers to change or to
reformulate their products to contain less or no sugar. And
(02:11):
it's been remarkably effective at doing that. You've seen a
thirty five percent reduction and the amount of sugar consumed
via soft drinks. Well, at the same time, soft drinks
sales have actually increased by fifteen percent I think. So,
you know, this can be done without inflationary pressure or
without increasing the cost of living, and you can achieve
(02:34):
a pretty significant reduction in the amount of sugar intake,
which has really positive flow through benefits.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Why is it that successive governments have been resistant to intervention?
Speaker 3 (02:48):
It's a great question. I mean, I'd just be speculating,
but I think it comes down to partly it's a
sense of perhaps an outdated sense of what some of
these interventions might look like, and perhaps an outdated sense
of their popularity even among New Zealanders. As I say,
these aren't well the good ones anyway. The effect of
(03:12):
sugary drinks levees are not about raising revenue. They are
about encouraging the reformulation of products. And the most recent
survey data we've seen shows I think twice as many
New Zealanders support some kind of you know, the sugary
drinks levy as opposed it. So you know that might
(03:32):
have something to do with with politicians' reticence today.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah, I mean, it wouldn't be big business getting in
the way of decision making, would it. I don't.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
I don't think so. As I say, you know, the
UK model did not hurt the soft drinks industry at all.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
They just changed what they sold.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
They just changed what they sold exactly right.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
When it comes to the weight loss management. There's been
some criticism of the Labor government in the UK for
suggesting that people who can't afford the weight loss injections
who are on benefits should receive them courtesy of the
state because that will make them work ready. And then
you've got the middle classes saying, well, we can't afford
it so that we're bikini ready for IBETHA, why should
(04:21):
the pavos on the benefit get it? I just said
it as a weight loss tool. It certainly seems to
be accepted by the medical community as being a game
changer in terms of being able to assist people who
really struggle.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yeah, that's right. The way our report framed it is
it is you know, these new weight loss management drugs
coming through and techniques are increasingly effective and they have
an important role to play as part of a wider
strategy to reducing Uzeon's obesity rates. You know, it's not
(05:02):
they're not silver bullets, but they are, you know, in
certain circumstances, probably going to be pretty healthful, particularly for
people who are particularly vulnerable to obesity. But it only
makes sense to do that if people exist in a
food environment that is healthier than the one we currently
have otherwise, you know, when people come off this medication,
(05:25):
it's going to be difficult to maintain that weight loss.
So if we continue to have the same really unhealthy
foods on our streets and our supermarket shelves, we're just
making it very difficult for people.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
But then, if you've been introduced to healthy foods, you
develop a taste for them. You know, just as people
say that sugar and salt's addictive, so too are fresh veggies.
And like you and I probably find ourselves craving a
salad if we've been on the run for a while,
you know, picking up food where we can, trying to
make the best choices. But ultimately, in the end, all
you want to do is sit down with fresh fruit
(06:00):
and veggies.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Yeah, exactly right. And that was one of the other
recommendations of the report is that we think the government
could use it. You know, it's really significant purchasing power
and the fact that it provides millions of meals across it,
you know, the various institutions it runs, schools, prisons, army canteens, hospitals.
(06:24):
You know, if they can have a more strategic approach
to providing healthy food through those institutions. Then you start
to see a halo effect where there's more healthy food produced,
people get more used to eating it, and we start
to see healthier food, you know, more commonly consumed in
our society.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
So how much what happens to these reports? Do they
just have a little splutter a bit like a sparkler
at guy fawks? Do they flame into life and I
talk about them and you talk about them, and then
do they die and disappear into a into a library somewhere.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
And that can happen. We certainly don't want it to happen.
I've reached out to the various ministers with responsibility here.
I would very much hope to be going to talk
talking to them about it. And what's more, you know,
these reports don't occur in a vacuum. This is at
least a second or third one this year that's come
out making these recommendations, So you know, you hope it
(07:17):
really starts to contribute to a you know, to a
sense of momentum here that we've got to do something.
You know, New Zealand really is starting to look like
a bit of an outlier in the sense that we
don't have any of these policies in place, so I
would really hope that it doesn't, you know, sit on
a shelf and be ignored. I think there's some very
(07:38):
compelling arguments here that should should resonate with anyone who's
interested in seeing a healthy and more productive New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It's just it's interesting, isn't it Like the amount of
time and effort that is spent by individuals agonizing about weight,
male and female, almost from the time they're ten years
old to the day they die. It's just a phenomenal
waste of energy.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, it's not hard to disagree with that, and I
guess our point would be that we can make it
a bit easier for people, and we've so far chosen
not to use tools that we know will work.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Interesting. I thank you for your time. Murray, director of
the Helen Clark Foundation and report co author looking into
the ways successive governments have failed when it comes to
policy around junk food and ways that governments could do better.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
For more from Kerry Wood and Mornings, listen live to
news talks. It'd be from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Kerrywood of Mornings podcast from News
Talk sed B.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
We're talking to Helen Clark Foundation's report that wants to
address New Zealand's high obesity rate. The report recommends government
policy interventions to improve the proportion of healthy food available.
It also suggests restricting the marketing of unhealthy food to
children adopting new technologies for obesity treatment. Executive director and
(00:37):
co author of the report, Murray Bruce joins me, Now,
very good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
To you, Very good morning to you, Kerry.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
It really is like, as soon as we start talking
about it and I say, well, you know there are
people who struggle because of shift work in long hours
and things like that, immediately I get people who are organized,
who are capable, who are disciplined, who say, oh, for
heaven's sake, you know, it's just a matter of routine
and easy enough to know how to eat well because
(01:05):
you just have to look on TikTok it comes. It
always seems to come back to individual responsibility and a
kind of superior morality.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, so look, our report acknowledge is a role for
individual responsibility. But the truth of the matter is we
have the third highest rates of obesity in the OECD.
It's not easy for everybody to do this. If it was,
you know, New Zealand wouldn't have the particular problem we
have with you know, a third of New Zealanders living
(01:37):
with obesity. We have a very serious problem here and
it's costing all of us and we need to adopt
the kinds of policies that we've seen countries that work
like US.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Adopt, like Britain with its soft drink takes.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, exactly right, sugar drinks industry leving. What's really interesting
about that approach is that it's not based on revenue gathering.
That's not the point of the of the levy. The
point is to have centivize manufacturers to change or to
reformulate their products to contain less or no sugar. And
(02:11):
it's been remarkably effective at doing that. You've seen a
thirty five percent reduction and the amount of sugar consumed
via soft drinks. Well, at the same time, soft drinks
sales have actually increased by fifteen percent I think. So,
you know, this can be done without inflationary pressure or
without increasing the cost of living, and you can achieve
(02:34):
a pretty significant reduction in the amount of sugar intake,
which has really positive flow through benefits.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Why is it that successive governments have been resistant to intervention?
Speaker 3 (02:48):
It's a great question. I mean, I'd just be speculating,
but I think it comes down to partly it's a
sense of perhaps an outdated sense of what some of
these interventions might look like, and perhaps an outdated sense
of their popularity even among New Zealanders. As I say,
these aren't well the good ones anyway. The effect of
(03:12):
sugary drinks levees are not about raising revenue. They are
about encouraging the reformulation of products. And the most recent
survey data we've seen shows I think twice as many
New Zealanders support some kind of you know, the sugary
drinks levy as opposed it. So you know that might
(03:32):
have something to do with with politicians' reticence today.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah, I mean, it wouldn't be big business getting in
the way of decision making, would it. I don't.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
I don't think so. As I say, you know, the
UK model did not hurt the soft drinks industry at all.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
They just changed what they sold.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
They just changed what they sold exactly right.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
When it comes to the weight loss management. There's been
some criticism of the Labor government in the UK for
suggesting that people who can't afford the weight loss injections
who are on benefits should receive them courtesy of the
state because that will make them work ready. And then
you've got the middle classes saying, well, we can't afford
it so that we're bikini ready for IBETHA, why should
(04:21):
the pavos on the benefit get it? I just said
it as a weight loss tool. It certainly seems to
be accepted by the medical community as being a game
changer in terms of being able to assist people who
really struggle.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yeah, that's right. The way our report framed it is
it is you know, these new weight loss management drugs
coming through and techniques are increasingly effective and they have
an important role to play as part of a wider
strategy to reducing Uzeon's obesity rates. You know, it's not
(05:02):
they're not silver bullets, but they are, you know, in
certain circumstances, probably going to be pretty healthful, particularly for
people who are particularly vulnerable to obesity. But it only
makes sense to do that if people exist in a
food environment that is healthier than the one we currently
have otherwise, you know, when people come off this medication,
(05:25):
it's going to be difficult to maintain that weight loss.
So if we continue to have the same really unhealthy
foods on our streets and our supermarket shelves, we're just
making it very difficult for people.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
But then, if you've been introduced to healthy foods, you
develop a taste for them. You know, just as people
say that sugar and salt's addictive, so too are fresh veggies.
And like you and I probably find ourselves craving a
salad if we've been on the run for a while,
you know, picking up food where we can, trying to
make the best choices. But ultimately, in the end, all
you want to do is sit down with fresh fruit
(06:00):
and veggies.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Yeah, exactly right. And that was one of the other
recommendations of the report is that we think the government
could use it. You know, it's really significant purchasing power
and the fact that it provides millions of meals across it,
you know, the various institutions it runs, schools, prisons, army canteens, hospitals.
(06:24):
You know, if they can have a more strategic approach
to providing healthy food through those institutions. Then you start
to see a halo effect where there's more healthy food produced,
people get more used to eating it, and we start
to see healthier food, you know, more commonly consumed in
our society.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
So how much what happens to these reports? Do they
just have a little splutter a bit like a sparkler
at guy fawks? Do they flame into life and I
talk about them and you talk about them, and then
do they die and disappear into a into a library somewhere.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
And that can happen. We certainly don't want it to happen.
I've reached out to the various ministers with responsibility here.
I would very much hope to be going to talk
talking to them about it. And what's more, you know,
these reports don't occur in a vacuum. This is at
least a second or third one this year that's come
out making these recommendations, So you know, you hope it
(07:17):
really starts to contribute to a you know, to a
sense of momentum here that we've got to do something.
You know, New Zealand really is starting to look like
a bit of an outlier in the sense that we
don't have any of these policies in place, so I
would really hope that it doesn't, you know, sit on
a shelf and be ignored. I think there's some very
(07:38):
compelling arguments here that should should resonate with anyone who's
interested in seeing a healthy and more productive New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It's just it's interesting, isn't it Like the amount of
time and effort that is spent by individuals agonizing about weight,
male and female, almost from the time they're ten years
old to the day they die. It's just a phenomenal
waste of energy.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, it's not hard to disagree with that, and I
guess our point would be that we can make it
a bit easier for people, and we've so far chosen
not to use tools that we know will work.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Interesting. I thank you for your time. Murray, director of
the Helen Clark Foundation and report co author looking into
the ways successive governments have failed when it comes to
policy around junk food and ways that governments could do better.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
For more from Kerry Wood and Mornings, listen live to
news talks. It'd be from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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